Insights
A Primer on Florida’s New Summary Judgment Standard
The Florida Rules of Civil Procedure are intended to “secure the just, speedy, and inexpensive determination of every action.” The Florida Constitution, however, mandates that “[t]he right to trial by jury shall be secure to all and remain inviolate.” This tension between an efficient court system, on one hand, and protecting one’s right to a jury of his or her peers, on the other, recently played out in the dispute over whether Florida should abandon its stringent summary judgment standard in favor of the less rigid federal standard.